In a Galaxy Far, Far Away
by FromTheCouncilOfTimeWizards
Summary: Revised Summary: What happened in between the episodes we saw? A collection of oneshots about the Doctor and Rose's mini-adventures.
1. Myrixis

**AN: So, um, I don't actually own Doctor Who. **

The Doctor opened the TARDIS door with Rose close behind him. They had landed on Myrixis, an inter-planetary market teeming with all sorts of species and merchandise.

The Doctor watched amusedly as Rose wandered from stall to stall, looking amazed at every little thing. He'd seen it all already, of course, he came to Myrixis often, but he was enjoying Rose's reaction.

"Look at this!" Rose waved something in his face- it was a small, smooth stone that, when placed on someone's arm, wrapped around into a bracelet of whatever size or length they desired. She tried it on again and again, watching the stone thin into tendrils that encircled her wrist in shimmering lines.

Holding the small bag of money the Doctor had given her, she ran off into the throng, examining alien devices, food and attire. The Doctor stayed behind to look at the stall of a mechanic- the TARDIS could use a few spare parts, and Myrixis was just a friendly trade center, generally not dangerous.

Rose stopped at a stand filled with sparkling alien jewels. There was a small pendant on a chord that glowed a different color depending on the light. Though it was one of the smallest there, even that exceeded her budget.

She sighed and turned away, looking around for a new point of interest, when a tall man stepped out in front of her.

As far as aliens went, he wasn't bad looking. The only sign that he wasn't human was that the teeth behind his smile were abnormally curved, and his eyes were orange. His dark hair contrasted against his marble skin, and his face was lit with friendliness.

"Hello," he said. "Forgive me, but I saw you standing here and I couldn't help noticing you are _very_ pretty."

Rose blushed. "Th-thanks," she replied. She found his large orange eyes and dazzling smile distracting. _Snap out of it!_ she told herself silently.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had purchased everything he needed and decided to go check on Rose. It was pretty hard to attract trouble on Myrixis, but still. This _was_ Rose he was talking about. Between the two of them, they could start trouble almost anywhere.

He weaved through the crowd until he spotted a blonde head at a stand a few feet away. Suddenly, he spotted who she was talking to, and, panicking slightly, quickened his pace.

"My name is Famal," he heard the alien say. He then gestured to the pendant Rose had just been examining. "I noticed you were admiring this. I happen to have some money on me." He reached into a small bag at his hip and pulled out a large, ornate, gold coin.

"Here. Treat yourself. Someone as beautiful as you surely deserves it."

Instinctively, Rose's hand twitched toward the coin, even though her brain was saying _Don't!_

"ROSE!"

The two turned to see the Doctor running towards them. "Don't," he panted, making a gesture as though to stop Rose's hand.

Famal looked irritated. "Sir, I got to her first. I'm afraid you'll have to find someone one else."

Rose was about to say something rude to him, but the Doctor interrupted. "Don't take it Rose," he repeated.

"She'll take it if she wants to," Famal retorted angrily. "Come on," he said to Rose, "Don't you want it?"

The Doctor pulled himself up next to Rose. "Anything you want to give to her I will accept in her stead. Does your offer still stand?"

Famal flushed, thoroughly annoyed by now. "I was giving it to her, not you!"

"Oh no it's ok, you can give it to him," Rose said. She wasn't sure what was going on, so she decided siding with the Doctor was her best shot.

Famal glared at them. Then he muttered "My offer no longer stands," and walked away, sulking.

As soon as he'd gone, Rose rounded on the Doctor. "What was _that_ about? He just offered to buy me a necklace."

The Doctor glanced at her, tearing his eyes from Famal's retreating back. "Famal is a Redirian. The custom on Rediria is that an offer to buy jewelry with that particular kind of coin is a marriage proposal. Had you accepted, you would have been required by law to marry him."

Rose sat, stunned, for a moment, digesting this. "He was _proposing?_!"

"That's right!" Now that the danger of Rose being married of to a strange alien had passed, he was grinning mischieviously at her. Rose knew she would be hearing a lot of teasing about this for a while.

"Shut up," she grumbled.

They began the walk back to TARDIS. Suddenly, Rose felt an elbow in her rib. She looked around. The Doctor pointed to a nearby stand. Famal was standing next to a new girl, one with flowing mousy hair. As they watched, Famal handed her the same coin he had, just minutes ago, offerend Rose. The girl squealed and threw her arms around him. Rose snorted. "He got over that quickly."

Finally, they reached the TARDIS. The Doctor was still snickering slightly as he set the TARDIS for a new location, while Rose rolled her eyes at him. They were just about to leave when there was a knock on the door.

A squat, orangey man stood just outside. Rose recognized him as the owner of the stall she'd been standing at when Famal had approached her.

"I saw what just happened," he said. "And I have to say, I have never seen a Redirian rejected before. It was quite entertaining, I think. That Famal has been getting on my nerves, hovering around my stall, hoping for a girl to stop by. The least I can do is give you this."

He stretched out a four-fingered hand. Dangling from it, glinting saphire in the light of the TARDIS, was Rose's necklace.

**AN: So that was chapter one. What do you think? **


	2. Middle Ages

**AN: Still don't own Doctor Who. Probably never will.**

**This is chapter two, I wrote it in kind of a hurry so I'm not sure how good it is. A reminder that these are completely unrelated chapters- just random one shots about things the Doctor and Rose might have done. **

**I cannot deny that this chapter had a little bit of Merlin influence, but it can be read without watching Merlin. I think Merlin fans might just enjoy it a bit more. **

**Oh, and if you have any ideas for later chapters, feel free to suggest something in a review! :)**

"Aaah, the Middle Ages!" the Doctor spread his arms at the scene in front of him: a towering castle with a sweeping lawn on which knights were sparring, surrounding by a buslting citadel. The heard the clang of metal and shouts as the knights in glittering armor jabbed and swung their swords.

Rose, grinning, stepped out of the TARDIS as well, taking in the scene. "I'm not gonna catch the plague or anything am I?"

"'Course not, I made sure to steer clear of that," the Doctor replied. "If I'm right, pretty soon the jousting competition will start!"

"Jousting," Rose repeated. Well, that was something new, at least.

To kill time, they wandered through the market and the lower town, even passed through the courtyard of the stone castle. Rose grinned up at the gray palace and the sight of the king standing on the balcony, observing passersby. "Kinda like a Disney movie," she commented. Next to her, the Doctor snorted. She looked at him. "I know it's not _really_!" she retorted.

After a few hours, the crowd started to swarm towards an open stadium. The exitement was almost tangible among the townsfolk.

Before long, the knights started to ride out and were introduced to the crowd. The anouncer said something about points. Suddenly, Rose realized she had no ideas what the rules were, except that the main goal was to knock the other person of with a lance or something.

They were sitting at the back of the stands. Glancing around, she tried to inconspicuosly turn to the wall. She took out the cell phone the Doctor had given her. It was from her future, and had something called "Siri". According to the Doctor, one of the most advanced versions of it, not the faulty early versions.

She held the button. "Siri, look up 'jousting'."

The mechanic voice responded. "The search 'jousting' exceeded twenty thousand results. Would you like to narrow results by being more specific?"

Rose huffed. "Alright, look up 'jousting rules'."

She didn't notice a boy, almost hidden behind the crowd, staring at her from a few levels down the stands, a look of fear on his face.

"They're starting!"

The first few knights rode at each other, egged on by the masses on the sidelines. At firsrt, Rose winced at the sound of wood splintering on metal, but the knight rode away, apparently fine, and she soon got used to it.

The second pair rode at each other, this time, one of the riders was not so lucky. As he fell, a loud _crack_ echoed around the stadium. His leg was broken, twisted at an odd angle, and Rose thought she saw something poking out of it. She winced sympathetically. "_Definitely_ not Disney."

After the jousting tournament, the Doctor and Rose stuck around to watch the award ceremony. The boy in the stands, however, went strait to the king.

The king had been unable to attend the jousting tournament due to a council meeting and was thoroughly annoyed by it. The meeting had just come to a close when a guard stepped into the room.

"Sire, there is someone from the lower town to see you. He says it's urgent."

The boy entered, looking nervous but determined. "What is the problem?" the king inquired. The young commoner dipped his head respectfully. "My Lord, I was at the jousting tournament today, and I saw...a witch."

The king sat forward, his attention successfully captured. "Indeed? How can you be sure?"

The boy swallowed. "She-she had some sort of magical device, My Lord. She spoke to it, and it answered her. It was an object unlike anything I have seen - it was bright and glowing, and responded to her touch as though it were alive."

The king nodded. "You have done well to tell me this. If you saw this witch again, would you recognize her?"

"Most definitely, My Lord."

"Very well. Please acompany my guards to the lower town where the tournament was held. You will help them search, as you know her appearance. A reward awaits you, should you be successful."

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Rose were arguing. "She's a famous singer!" the Doctor said.

"I've heard lots of music - I want to go watch the acrobats!" Rose replied.

"You've heard twenty first century music - how often are you going to hear a medieval singer?"

"How often am I gonna see medieval acrobats?"

In the end, the Doctor stayed behind to watch the singer at the end of the ceremony, and Rose went off to watch the street performers on their way to the castle, agreeing to meet up in an hour.

Rose was trying to get a good view when arms suddenly yanked her back. Two palace guards had grabbed her and forced her to her knees, facing a boy who appeared to be not even a teenager.

"You're sure this is her?" one of the guards said to the boy. He nodded, regarding Rose warily.

"Take her to the dungeons."

The next thing Rose knew, she was being thrown into a small, grimy cell. "You're execution will be tomarrow at dawn, witch. Thought you could get away with witchcraft, didja?" The door clanged shut behind her, and she distinctly heard the sound of a key turning in a lock.

"Hey! Come back! I'm not a witch!"

The guard ignored her and continued down the corridor, until he turned and was no longer in her sight. She was all alone.

well, almost.

"They think you're a witch?"

Rose jumped. She turned to see a young man in the cell next to hers.

"Yeah. Don't know what their problem is, I didn't do any witchcraft."

He smiled at her. It was a kind smile. "I suppose they mean well, but sometimes they let their fear cloud their judgement."

Rose took "they" to mean the king.

"What're you in here for?"

He smiled again, a sad smile this time. "Attempted assasination of the king's councilman's daughter."

"Ok," Rose said. "So what are you in here for?"

He gave a sigh. "You could say I had a bit of a soft spot for her. Her father would never allow us together, of course. But that didn't mean I couldn't look at her, soak in her face when she walked by or stood on a balcony. I was out on my rooftop (my house is fairly close to the castle), looking for a bird to shoot down for supper, when I spotted her standing in one of the palace windows and...I forgot all about hunting. One of the guards walked by and saw my staring at her with a crossbow in my hand."

Rose stared at him. "That's it?"

He nodded. "Reason enough to suspect me of treason. A crime punishable by death."

"They're going to kill you for that?!" Rose said angrily.

"I'm afraid so."

"Some king he is," Rose muttered.

The man looked around nervously. "Be careful of how you speak of the king," he warned.

"Or what?" Rose scoffed. "He'll kill me?" The man laughed. "I suppose you have a point." He become sober after a moment. "I'll never see my family again," he said sadly.

Rose leaned in, wrapping her hands around the bars. "I have no plans on dying tomarrow," she told him. "And I don't see any reason that you should either."

She could wait for the Doctor to realize she was missing and come find her. But she didn't feel like it, much.

She reached up and pulled out her hair pin. Her cellmate watched curiously as she reached around the bars to her prison and stuck it in the keyhole of the lock. She then took a moment to silently thank her friend Shareen for showing her this trick as the lock clicked open. Triumphantly, she opened the door and stepped out, turning to the cell next to her where her companion was staring at her in shock.

"What's your name?" she asked as she started on his lock.

"B-Benjamin," he stuttered.

"Nice meeting you Benjamin," Rose replied. "_Run."_

They were halfway up the stairs out of the dungeon when Rose collided with the Doctor.

"Rose!" he exclaimed. "I couldn't find you, and then someone said something about someone being arrested for witchcraft-"

"Yeah, yeah, fat lot of help you were!" Rose said, signaling for them to keep running.

They managed to make it out without being seen. Rose advised Benjamin to take his belongings and flee to somewhere safe. He advised her to do the same, ("Don't worry, I have all the transport I need," she'd replied) and thanked her over and over for rescuing him.

"Ok, what did you do?" the Doctor asked as they began to walk back to the TARDIS.

"Me?!" exclaimed Rose. "What makes you think it was _me_?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"Oh alright, it was me, then. But all I did was ask Siri what the rules of jousting are!"

At that moment, a warning bell rang, and guards started rushing out from the dungeons, shouting about an escaped witch.

"Run," the Doctor advised her. Rose didn't need to be told twice.

A pair of guards started to catch up to them just as they reached a certain familiar blue box. They yelled in fright as a rushing sound came from it and it started to disappear. Stumbling backwards in shock, they blinked and...it was gone.


	3. The Smithsonian II

**AN: Doctor Who is still not mine. **

**!IMPORTANT NOTE!: This is only part of a chapter, it is not finished! It started out ok, but then my brain kinda slowed down on it. I promise I will update the rest of it soon, and if not, you can yell at me in the reviews. **

**This chapter won't have much of a plot/storyline, but don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapter and there will be more stuff going on. **

**And once again, if you have any ideas for later chapters, please review! I'm gonna start running out of ideas :P**

"Oh, I bet you'll love this," the Doctor said, closing the TARDIS door behind it.

"What is it?" Rose inquired. In response, the Doctor pointed to the sign stretched around the top of the building.

THE SMITHSONIAN II

_The biggest museum of Earth's history in the solar system_

"Oh, I can't wait to see how bad they screwed up history," Rose laughed, remembering what she referred to the "End of the World" incident. "What's the year?"

"Sometime in the 28th century. But this museum isn't even run by humans, it was created by a group of aliens from an ajoining solar system. So who knows if they even got any of it rigt."

The Doctor successfully gained them entrance by flashing his psychic paper at the entrance. The museum was divided by era. Rose wanted to go to the section containing the mid 21st century, but the Doctor wouldn't let her. "It's in your future!"

"I've already seen the future!"

"Yeah, but this is your nearer future. I can't completely spoil it for you, can I?!"

They argued all the way down the hall. When they got to the end, a huge room spread out in front of them. Rose saw walls covered in displays of what for her was present day government, album covers, movie posters, newspapers and headlines, tiny models of cities, and clothing.

Rose moved closer to an encased model of a typical living room, wondering why such a thing was on display, and read the plaque.

_This model depicts an average "living room" in mid 20th century-mid 21th century_

_home. These types of homes were generally found in the more developed countries._

_Archeologists believe that many households worshipped a small, black box_

_found in almost every single one. Families were believed to have worshipped it weekly,_

_if not daily, for up to hours at a time. Many houses had rooms dedicated to such worship,_

_with all furniture facing it and nothing blocking the view of it._

Rose finished reading, but continued to stare at it in disbelief. She suddenly realized the Doctor was standing behind her, reading over her shoulder. He snickered. "Looks like no one ever gets history right."

Rose snorted. "Please, I'm not entirely convinced this is false."

**Sorry guys, that's it for now, but again, the rest of the chapter is coming soon! **


	4. Angels and Theme Parks

**AN: Don't own Doctor Who, probably never will. **

**Meh. So I know I said I would add more to the last chapter, but it wasn't going as well as I thought it would. I enjoyed writing this one more, though, so I decided to post it, and if I have time I will try to go back and add more to chapt. 3. sorry :P**

**And again, if you want to add your own idea for a future chapter, please do- I will run out of ideas eventually!**

The TARDIS door creaked open yet again. Only this time, they did not step out not knowing what they would find. They had had a busy week, including encounters with Sontarans, some haywire robots from the future, and aliens trying yet again to take Earth for themselves.

So the Doctor and Rose had decided to take a little break from saving planet after planet. Just moments earlier, the Doctor had set the coordinates for an amusement park planet. He couldn't wait to see Rose's face when she saw it.

However, Rose knew him well. Though she was greatly impressed - this beat every fun park she'd been to as a kid - she knew he was waiting for an amazed reaction. With that in mind, she turned to him, her face kept carefully neutral.

"It looks nice enough, but it's a little warm, don't you think?"

The Doctor mock scowled. "That's it? Most people would be very happy to get the chance to get here! They would consider themselves lucky! But nooo, it's not enough for Rose Tyler!"

She laughed. "C'mon, you know I'm kidding. It's brilliant, really."

They walked passed carts full of delicious smelling food and games advertising huge prizes. "Want anything?" the Doctor asked, looking at each one as they passed.

"Are you kidding? I want to see these rides you were bragging about. Where's the biggest one?"

They found it pretty easily. It was kind of hard not to notice a five story high roller coaster twisted into a dense tangle of track.

They were making their way towards it when the sky turned gray and it started to drizzle.

"Awesome," Rose said sarcastically, though not really minding that much- this was nothing compared to the downpours she'd seen sometimes back in 21st century Britain. She privately thanked her past self for investing in waterproof mascara.

But the Doctor seemed worried. "Oh lighten up, Doctor, it's barely raining," Rose said. The Doctor shook his head slowly. "It's not supposed rain."

"Now who's complaining about the weather?" Rose teased him.

He turned to look her in the face. "No, Rose. It doesn't rain on this planet. Ever. This is the future for you, remember? The people who run this place have the technology to make sure it never rains. It's always sunny. That's part of the most basic systems. They never shut it off. If it rains, something is very wrong."

She stared at him. "So what you're saying is, we're not going on a ride?"

"Just poke around a bit, see if we can find out what's wrong," the Doctor insisted.

"Look at the size of this place!" Rose said, indicating the park. "It will take forever to search it!"

The Doctor pointed at a dark gray building a little ways away, half hidden behind stands and shrubs.

"The control panels should be there."

"Still a huge building. If we're going to search it, we might as well split up."

"Alright. If we're going to do that, we'll need these to communicate," the Doctor replied, and he reached into his coat and pulled out two black walkie-talkies.

Rose grinned. "Walkie-talkies? Seriously?"

"What's wrong with walkie-talkies?"

"Nothing," Rose replied, taking one.

As they approached the building, they realized the TARDIS had landed very close to it. Also, it was connected to nearby structures, such as the House of Mirrors, Haunted House, and the bounce house. Entrance required the scanning of the security card, but the Doctor's psychic paper solved that. When they got in, the Doctor went one way and Rose went the other.

It was rather dull inside, nothing but dark corridors. But eventually, the Doctor made it to one of the control rooms. He peered inside.

That was strange. No one was in there. Under normal circumstances, someone would be in there at all times.

The Doctor was about to sonic his way in when a moving shadow at the end of the hall caught his eye. Looking up, he saw the shadow move away.

The Doctor tensed. The shadow had looked an awful lot like..."No way," he muttered. Not them.

And it had been moving in the direction of...

"The TARDIS!"

As soon as this realization registered, the Doctor bolted after the figure. He burst through the door in time to see what appeared to be a stone statue right outside his blue box. And the alleyway it was parked in was deserted, no one to keep if from moving farther, except the Doctor. _Don't blink. _

He ran towards it, but suddenly there was a cry of "Look out!"

The Doctor ducked just in time. The ball that had been hurled by a frustrated loser at one of the game booths sailed over the fence surrounding the security building and over his head. But it had diverted his eyes. He frantically looked towards the TARDIS and saw that angel was not there.

It had entered the TARDIS.

"No, no, no, no.."

He yanked the door open. The angel was halfway to the console. "Emergency protocol beta-5!" he yelled. He was very, very glad he had installed this emergency intruder system, he mused, as the TARDIS encircled the Weeping Angel in a force field. The screen at the console blinked SEARCHING in red letters as it located a safe time and place to send it. After a few seconds, the screen changed to LOCATION FOUND, and in another second the TARDIS had transported it away.

He experienced temporarily relief that immediately flared into panic. _Rose_!

Rose was finding this building very boring. _No one was even here! The Doctor had better be sure about this_, she thought.

She reached a door on her left. She looked in, expecting it to be locked, but when she turned the handle, it opened easily.

The room was dark, small, and cramped, and one wall with a chair facing it was covered in panels, switches, and screens. At first she thought it was empty.

The she spotted the statue.

Her first thought was _why the hell would someone put an angel statue _here?

It stood facing away from her, its hands covering its face. Its stone dress pooled around its feet, and long wings partially hid its face from view.

At that moment, her walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"Rose?" The Doctor's frantic voice came through the static.

"Yeah?" Rose responded, her eyes still on the statue.

"Where are you? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, fine," she replied absentmindedly, focused on the statue. Something was wrong. Stone statues did not belong in control rooms. People did. But there were no people in here...

"Listen, where are you? Do you see anything odd?"

"No, not really...well, there's this stone statue in a control roon. Odd place for decoration."

There was a short silence on the Doctor's end. Then, his voice, roughened by the walkie-talkie, came through again, sounding more serious than before.

"Get out of there. Now."

Rose huffed. "Haha, fine, I'm just saying. I'm only trying to help- what the...?"

Her eyes had flickered away for a moment, taking in the room again in search of more substancial abnormalities. Next thing she knew, the statue was feet from her. Its hands were no longer covering its face, which was twisted in a snarl, but outstrecthed as though to grab Rose.

"Get out of there!" The Doctor repeated. "But don't take your eyes off it!"

Oh, like she would look away from it _now._

She backed away and fumbled for the door handle. She found it, and hurriedly opened the door and exited backwards.

Still looking in through the window in the door, she raised her walkie-talkie.

"What the hell was that?"

The Doctor's terse voice answered her. "It's a Weeping Angel. They cannot move unless they are unseen. It's part of their defense system, in the sight of anything living, they turn to stone - literally. But take your eyes off it, or even blink, they can move. Very quickly."

Immediately, Rose felt her eyes start to water as she tried not to blink. The lights flickered.

"Doctor, the lights are flickering. Is the angel doing that?"

"Probably. Get out of there, quickly!"

She didn't need to be told twice. Backing away, she ran down the hallway. Looking back, she saw the angel was now in the hall as well, its face frozen in a grotesque and frightening expression.

"How the hell do we get rid of it?"

"We'll figure out something, right now you need to get to safety."

Rose, still running and glancing back every few seconds in an attempt to stop her pursuer, started to panic slightly. There was no plan, and this thing was only kept at bay if they didn't blink. How could they defeat something they had to keep their eyes on at all times?

Suddenly, the Doctor's voice came back to her. _..in the sight of anything living, they turn to stone - literally._

She had an idea. She had no idea if it would work, but she had to try.

She changed direction, hoping she remembered the layout correctly. She was now out of the center of the building, and around her were different exits, each leading to a different place. She was starting to get tired. She needed to find the right one...

And suddenly, there it was - the place she was looking for.

She stopped and turned. The angel was still far away, but was closer than last time. "Catch me if you can then," Rose whispered to it, hoping it would accept the challenge.

She yanked opene the door and ran inside. This action was followed by the Doctor's voice coming from the device in her hand.

"Rose, are you still there? I'm trying to find you, where are you?"

Rose turned. She could see the angel outside the door, and she smiled a bit. "I'm in the house of mirrors, Doctor." And she ran off into the disorienting hallways.

"All right, I'm on my way, just keep calm," the Doctor said distractedly. Rose smirked. Apparently he hadn't yet realized what she said.

Hesitantly, she peered around the corner. The angel was standing in the darkened room, facing on of the walls. She held her breath, and closed her eyes, and then opened them again. The angel did not move. It was stuck, staring at its reflection.

The Doctor's voice came through again. "You still there, Rose?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm still here, in the _house of mirrors_," she repeated. "All right, almost there, just keep looking at it," the Doctor said. Rose rolled her eyes. For a genius, he was really thick sometimes.

Just then, there was a clatter from the other side. The door from the outside opened and the Doctor rushed in. "Are you all right?" he asked breathlessly.

Wordlessly, she pointed to where the angel stood.

"One word - _mirrors_," she said slowly.

And finally the Doctor caught on.

"Ah. Right. Mirrors."


	5. A Challenge

**AN: In case you thought otherwise, I do not own Doctor Who.**

**Wow guys, I am so sorry it took this long to update. I just temporarily lost my drive for it. I know it says this is completed, but that's because I don't have any specific plans for this fic. Most likely I'll just update it whenever I get a new idea, which may not be very often.**

Rose grinned, looking around. They were in a small city on a planet somewhere (the Doctor had told her the name and she had promptly forgotten it) that rested on a low mountaintop with a spectacular view. A higher mountain range was on one side, and the other spread out and in the distance turned into a coast. The sun was setting on the coast side, making the view even more breathtaking.

"This is great," she whispered to the Doctor. He grinned. He loved it when he managed to astound her. And her expression now was priceless.

"Look over there." The Doctor pointed to the rest of the city, which was on a twin peak to the one they were currently on. That side looked like it would have the best view, and Rose smiled with a glazed-over look in longing.

"C'mon, lets try that side," the Doctor said.

Rose stared at him. "Is there even a way to get there?"

"Of course! These people go back and forth all the time," the Doctor said, indicating the bustling civilians. "I asked."

"Alright then," Rose said, now looking around, "you find how they get across, and I'll go."

The Doctor grinned at her with an unspoken "_challenge accepted_."

"You there," the Doctor called out to a passing man. "Would you happen to know how to get across?" he pointed across to the opposite peak.

The man pointed to a spot on the other side of the city.

"There's a bridge over there. Just get close to that spot, and you'll see it."

They followed the man's instructions. It took them a few minutes, but they reached the spot he had been pointing at. Then they spotted the bridge...

And they couldn't take their eyes off the bridge.

It was a thin rope bridge, the kind you see in movies where adventurers end up on an island populated by natives. It was rickety and moldy-looking. But what really got their attention was that it spanned over a straight, deep drop with a ravine at the very distant bottom.

They were supposed to cross that?

Apparently their disbelief showed on their faces, because a man standing near the bridge chuckled at them.

"First time crossing? Don't worry, it's completely safe. The ropes are made of coastal vine fibers, and the boards are inland oak. Takes a lot to break either of those."

The Doctor and Rose stared at each other.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" the Doctor said. "Go on!"

Rose shot him a look. "You have to go too! Why don't you go first?"

The Doctor smiled mischievously.

"You wouldn't be scared, now, would you?"

She gave him a haughty glare in response and deliberately stepped forward onto the bridge without the slightest tremor.

She walked a few steps and the bridge swayed. She turned around.

"I'm not scared. Are you?"

"Of course not!" the Doctor pretended to be offended. "Just checking that you weren't."

Their eyes met, silently forming a challenge as to who could last longest on this bridge.

The Doctor stepped onto the bridge behind her. As soon as he was on, Rose began taking exaggerated steps, making the bridge sway even more. The Doctor reflexively reached out and grabbed the rope on the side, but hastily let go so as not to see Rose's gloating look.

They continued walking. Rose peered at him by tilting her head slightly so she could see him, but he didn't notice her looking at her. Then suddenly, without warning, she "accidentally" tripped on one of the boards and fell forward, leaning over the side while the bridge rocked.

She heard the Doctor's sharp intake of breath and grinned. "Sorry, just tripped." She resisted the urge to look at his face. If she had, she would have seen that it had gone white the moment she nearly "fell". The Doctor hastily arranged his face to look unconcerned.

"No problem, there's no hurry after all."

They walked on, both of them trying to ignore the dizzying sight below them. But finally Rose chanced a glance down, looking for something to use against the Doctor.

"Oh, would you look at that, someone dropped their shopping," she commented in a mock tragic tone.

The Doctor, accepting the challenge, looked down as well, trying to ignore the sheer depth of the ravine.

"Yes, what a loss."

The Doctor chose this moment to make his own move.

"Look at this scenery!" he exclaimed. "This is an even better view than before! Why don't we stop and look for a moment!"

Rose narrowed her eyes. She wouldn't admit it, but she wanted to get off this bridge as soon as possible. But she had her pride, of course, so she stuck a smile on her face and agreed.

They stood silently for a moment, both pretending to be admiring the scene, but really waiting for the other to suggest that they leave. They would have stayed that way for who knew how long, but the same man who had told them it was safe was trying to cross, and as the rickety bridge was only wide enough for one person, he told them to get a move on.

Both secretly relieved, they finally made it to the end of the bridge. Stepping off, they remembered the reason they had crossed in the first place. The view was unobscured and amazing. They sat on a terrace and watched the sun set while eating a cool, ice cream-like substance. It was relaxing, as opposed to the chaos or danger their adventures usually triggered.

Finally, it was dark. They trudged back the way they came, but stopped at the bridge. It could hardly be seen, and a wind had started, making the ropes creak and groan.

They stared at each other.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go on!"


End file.
